Early-Years Initiatives Get Lawmakers' Attention

The names are all similar--Children First, Family and Children First
Initiative, Smart Start, Healthy Start.

And, while the goals of these state early-childhood programs range
from raising immunization rates to expanding preschool services, all of
the efforts signal a movement among state leaders to make the needs of
babies and young children a priority.

Over the past decade and particularly in recent years, numerous
lawmakers and governors have proposed initiatives aimed at improving
children's chances of succeeding in school while giving parents the
tools to provide children with the care and stimulation they need
during the early years. Next month's annual meeting of the National
Governors' Association, in fact, will focus on early childhood
development.

"A number of states have increased early-childhood programs,
especially for low-income families," said Scott Groginsky, who tracks
child-care and early-childhood-education policy at the Denver-based
National Conference of State Legislatures. "Legislators have really
been at the forefront of this issue."

Linda McCart, the executive director of the Ohio Family and Children
First Initiative, said she also sees a growing feeling among some
governors that investing in programs for young children now may spare
states from spending on prison construction and the like in the
future.

"They are convinced that the only way to turn [crime and
delinquency] around is to put more money up front," she said. "The
earlier you start, the bigger pay-off you have."

Busy Season for Children

The 1996-97 legislative season has seen its share of
early-childhood-education initiatives. Among those efforts:

In Connecticut, as part of a larger school desegregation and
improvement plan, the legislature approved a $50 million plan to make
school readiness programs available to another 5,000 to 6,000
preschoolers over a two-year period. Statewide, there are roughly
50,000 3- and 4-year-olds now being served in either part-day or
full-day programs.

The bill targets the state's 14 poorest school districts, as well as
more than 120 additional schools with a high percentage of poor
children. Lawmakers also set aside another $43 million in construction
funds for those early-childhood programs that need to build or improve
facilities.

In North Carolina this year, the state's Democratic governor,
James B. Hunt Jr., has proposed a $23 million expansion to Smart
Start, a public-private effort to improve child care, health care,
and other family services, such as literacy programs and
transportation in rural areas. Legislators are expected to sign off
on the governor's plan or something similar.

The Georgia legislature approved a $2.4 million expansion to
Children First, a program that screens newborns for special needs,
such as poverty, poor health, and developmental disabilities.

Meanwhile, in New York, two competing plans for early-childhood
programs have been introduced. A $110 million Senate bill would
double the number of slots in the state's program for 3- and
4-year-olds to 40,000 over a five-year period. A more ambitious
proposal in the Assembly would authorize prekindergarten for all
4-year-olds and full-day kindergarten where it is not already
available. The five-year, $5.5 billion plan also includes
construction and technology aid, and would reduce class sizes in
primary grades. Neither of the proposals is expected to reach the
legislature's floor until the budget does, probably late this
summer.

On the 'Playing Field'

Some early-childhood initiatives focus on better coordinating
existing services, identifying areas for improvement, and making it
easier for parents to get help.

In Colorado, Democratic Gov. Roy Romer has initiated the First
Impressions program and raised the prominence of early-childhood
issues. It has "placed early-childhood issues in closer proximity to
the political playing field," said Sally Vogler, the program's policy
director. Since First Impressions began in 1987, it has launched a
statewide child-care resource and referral agency and a preschool
program that now serves 8,500 at-risk children.

One of the goals of Ohio's Family and Children First Initiative,
launched in 1992, has been to raise standards for early-childhood
programs. Under the initiative, the state's public preschools must
adhere to the same guidelines as the federal Head Start program for
low-income children. The state is also streamlining the child-care
licensing process.

Ohio, as well as other states, is also encouraging partnerships
between Head Start and child-care programs to better serve children who
need full-day services.

"We're trying to create this seamless system so the child doesn't go
to Head Start for part of the day and somewhere else for the rest of
the day," Ms. McCart said.

Giving parents--especially poor mothers--the support and knowledge
they need to care for their infants is also popular. For instance,
through Ohio's Help Me Grow program, 650,000 new mothers have received
information about nutrition, infant development, and immunizations. At
the local level, mothers who might need additional support can request
home visits and free parenting classes.

Private Involvement

In many states, the private sector also plays an important role.

Even though it operates out of Gov. Romer's office, First
Impressions is a nonprofit organization funded with private grants.

"We're talking to constituents that basically have not talked about
young kids before," Ms. Vogler said of her efforts to involve business
leaders in early-childhood issues and encourage "family friendly" work
environments.

Businesses, community groups, and individual citizens are also
heavily involved in North Carolina's Smart Start program. This fiscal
year, state funding for the program is at $68.7 million. Private
donations equal $3.4 million, and another $4.1 million in in-kind
contributions was collected.

Fifty-five of the state's 100 counties have already signed on, and
Gov. Hunt's fiscal 1998 budget plan would expand the program to the
other 45 counties.

According to the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, child-care quality has
improved in Smart Start communities.

"Starting
Small, Thinking Big," Irving B. Harris, The American
Prospect, September/October 1996. Mr. Harris claims that the most
cost-effective spending in education should focus on early childhood
learning from conception to age five. This article is presented on the
Electronic Policy Network Web site.

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